The name Hatem Ben Arfa has been doing the rounds in football circles since he was a teenager. Cut from the same cloth as Karim Benzema, with both players destroying Ligue 1 defences together at Lyon, the exceedingly-gifted playmaker will wonder just why Benzema has progressed to find himself surrounded with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at the Bernabeu while Ben Arfa stagnates on the bench at Hull City. Anyway, even though he was only 23 years old, Ben Arfa was very much a known quantity in 2010, when Chris Hughton wrapped up the initial loan signing, and was heralded as very much a transfer coup. The Marseille winger was known to possess flair, deft touches and inventiveness on the ball, and was one of the clubs key players as they sought another league success. With eight senior caps for his country, Ben Arfa was tipped to have a huge future ahead of him. For this newly-promoted club to even have a shot at luring this highly-strung but impeccably talented playmaker was surely fairytale stuff.
''Ben Arfas here and hes ready to show what he can do. Were looking forward to seeing him. Hell train for the first time today. We know what he can bring to the team because hes a quality signing. This is a lovely challenge for him. He wanted to come to the Premier League, and he wanted to come to us. Were not just bringing him here because there was nowhere else for him to go. - Chris Hughton, August 2010.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
